Amazon Brings Launchpad Programme To India; Aims To Make Indian Startups Glocal

In line with its vision to make big in India, ecommerce giant Amazon has unveiled its Launchpad programme in India. The move is aimed at helping Indian startups to increase their customer base in India and abroad, as per a report by ET.

Startups can access the premium programme offered by Amazon’s seller support services for a fee of INR 5,000 per month. The benefits of the programme include account management, marketing, and warehouse management among others.

Commenting on the development, Amit Agarwal, VP and Country Head, Amazon India said, “India has great minds which invent amazing products and we will support their growth by helping customers discover their new products not just in India but also other countries around the world. We hope that Amazon Launchpad has a positive impact on the economy by further promoting ‘Make in India,’ adding further impetus to the current interest in Indian startups and also creating additional employment opportunities.”

In order to facilitate the programme, Amazon has tied up with various partners including Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion’s Start Up India initiative, Nasscom 10,000 startups, and Indian Angel Network. The company also said that around 25 startups such as Witworks, Leaf Wearables, Ducere Technologies, and Seventh Sense Technologies, have already joined the programme.

“The global programme, which is already present in seven countries has helped over 1,200 startups launch products, with over 4,000 products in the storefront,” Jason Feldman, Director Global Innovations, Amazon said.

Globally, Amazon Launchpad works with more than 100 venture capital firms, crowd-funding services, and accelerators/incubators. In India, it has also roped in a few strategic partners such as NITI Aayog, Government of Maharashtra, Government of Telangana, and TiE to help support the startups further.

Amazon has been extensively working to launch services that meet different business requirements of sellers and help them grow their business online. Over the past years, it has introduced programmes like Seller University, an extensive education and skilling program for SMBs; Fulfilment By Amazon, a fulfilment service wherein Amazon India packs, ships and delivers products to customers, manages returns and does customer service on behalf of the sellers; Easy Ship, an assisted shipping service for sellers across India; Amazon Tatkal, and Seller Flex, implementation of FBA technology at sellers’ warehouses.